Cortana like functionality? - Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge Questions and Answers

I just recently switched back to Android after being a Windows phone user for the past couple of years. Getting back some apps that I haven't had has been great but one thing is driving me insane. Is there a way to get S-voice to function like Cortana? I know there is a Cortana app but it does not interact with my phone.
I wear a bluetooth headset about 90% of my working day and I really miss my phone reading me all incoming text messages as well as being able to voice dictate replies. Right now, have to go through the "Hi Galaxy" crap and it does not utilize my bluetooth at all. I can't just hit the button on my headset, say a name, and then have my phone call or text that person. I've been searching all over but can't find any results. I really like this phone but this alone has me ready to go back to my 950.

Have you tried using Google Now instead of s-voice. I don't think it will replicate Cortana, but it's more powerful than S-Voice.

Related

Basic things?

Having been a long time reader and following the rise and birth of the HD2, I'm just about to order one till I saw the Alarm issue .
I have 4 basic needs:
Alarm
Bluetooth Voice recognition
Texting
and good call quality
I need it to wake me as an alarm is basic and should over ride silent mode and go for more than 2 beeps .
Bluetooth hands free, I need this to work as I need it while driving. How easy is it to get working with Nokia BT headset, and can it work like the n95 with auto voice recognition? Heard you can install MirosoftVoice thingy, but where from?
I have read a lot of problems about Texts. Presume this will be sorted shortly.
Good call quality, self explanatory, so don't like the sound of blastingly loud crackling volume.
I use a pc for emails as mailwasher filters out all the sp*nk mail so I don't intend to use it for emails.
Am I going to get the right phone? I love the look of the HD2, nearly bought the HD.
Liked the iphones that I played with but hated the handcuffed options and itunes. Shame that every gadget or accessory in shops is geared towards iphone.
Need some help.
Cheers,
Steve
Will that be a "No can't do the basics" then?
Alarm: Built in alarm is fairly basic, it does override silent mode and you can set 3 alarm times with days and the sound. Snooze mode is also included. If you need more, there are great applications like G-Alarm.
Bluetooth: I can pair it with my Bluetooth headset, it's simple and works just like it's supposed to. I don't know how to map a key of the headset to MS Voice Command but I'm pretty sure that this can be done.
Texting: Some people had problems, but disabling HTC Messaging is a simple fix that silves the problems. I've not had any problem with texting yet.
Call Quality: It's pretty good, IMHO. Not the best among all phones, but very good for a smartphone, better than most other smartphones.
1. Alarm works quite well for me, but I have a very light sleep, and almost every sound wakes me up. The only thing about HD2 that didn't wake me up was the battery notification (that it is under 10%)
3.. Texting - quite satisfied, only twice (I have the device for 3 full weeks now) I noticed the sms bug (sms not being sent from outbox), but soft reset solved those things. On my HD2 (with 1.43 WWE East Europe stock ROM) it appeared only when weather didn't want to update, so I kinda knew when it was appearing.
4. Call quality is very good, much better than on my old Nokia 8600 Luna

HD2 issues: Any assistance?

Hello all,
I purchased my HD2 on release day and so far I love it. For the most part the phone has been problem free and everything works perfectly. However recently I ran into a few issues.
1) When playing music with Windows Media player or the Music Player I will sometimes get odd skipping in songs. I looked at my screen and the microphone symbol at the top of the screen was blinking like crazy and I could hear a voice asking me to repeat commands again. I believe it was the voice dialing feature. One time it actually called someone. My phone started dialing out in the middle of a song and I had to pull the battery to make it stop calling people.
2) Text messaging.. The text messaging app has some serious bugs. Hopefully there is an update or a better solution out there. Some of the problems I have with texting are: Phone goes to a crawl when a text comes in, when typing texts it will just stop showing what I am typing. I have to click all around the window and sometimes can get it to come back up. If I cannot get my text to come back I have to close the app down and then go back in.
3) I am not sure if this is related to the sms app or not but I tried to edit a contact and the phone become incredibly unstable. It restarted itself and when sense loaded it popped up a message saying that swipe was not designed for my phone type. After that reboot my phone acted up a lot until I restarted it about 6 times. Then it was stable but the texting app was worse than ever.
I did a bunch of google searches and couldn't come up with any fixes for these issues. So any input would be welcome.
My phone is stock. I have no interest in flashing a new rom. I blame all these problems on sense (WinMo actually seems perfect despite what the uneducated spew across the net daily).
Thanks for reading
1) Sounds like you're simply activating the MSVC, which is done buy a long press off the send key (you're probably accidentally long pressing the 'play/send' button on the headphones.
Two solutions: 1) Simply disable MSVC (Settings>personal>Voice Command; Uncheck Enabled) 2) Be more careful so you don't accidentally press the button.
2)Just click the text input area (just above the keyboard where the text is suppose to be) and everything you typed will show up and continue to show up.
3) Never heard or seen this.
I don't know how much stuff/time you've put on/into this phone, but you might want to consider a hard reset.
Thank you for your response:
I was not using the headphones. I had it connected to my stereo in my Jeep. The HD2 was sitting alone on the seat next to me with nothing around it. It's done it several times now - so I don't think it was anything environmental.
Clicking in the text area used to work fine but not anymore. I have to click the last text message that came in and it will open a option menu, close that and then click in the open text area several times. This started happening once I tried to edit my contacts and my phone lost it's mind.
I don't want to do a hard reset but it might have to come to that. I have all the apps I like installed and everything seems to be working nicely with those few exceptions.
Ohh and one last complaint. Slacker >< why does it stop playing songs so much? I read other people were having problems with that too but I cannot seem to find any fix. Should I just give up on it and go to Pandora?

Voice Talk not doing voice dial when screen is locked

Hi guys,
I have been trying to find answers for this problem ever since i bought my Galaxy S2..but no luck so far.
The problem is trying to voice dial someone while the phone is paired with a bluetooth headset and on standby/screen locked mode. In other words i want to be able to voice dial someone when my galaxy is in the pocket instead of having to unlock the screen and go for voice dial and then say command which negates the whole point of having voice dial.
So far when i press the bluetooth's button, the phone goes - "what would you like to do" and then i try saying ''call (person)" but the phone seems to be doing nothing after that..but when the screen is unlocked and i do the same thing, it actually does dial(no point because if i am able to take the phone out and unlock it, i might as well dial it instead of voice). What really hits me is that the bluetooth actually does trigger the voice talk application and the phone requests me to say what i want to do but after that nothing happens.
Can you guys tell me whats going on? This problem is really making me hate this phone because the phone boasts so many ads about voice dialling but it cannot do a simple voice dial which is possible on ancient phones. Cheers
I've been playing with this for the past couple of days and here's what I've learned. It's complicated because there are multiple settings that effect each other. The phone has to be on to use Voice Talk. It can be locked, but has to be on and active. In other words, Voice Talk won't wake the phone up if it was shut off with the on/off button. Also, the app has to be in the foreground for it to listen. If you go to the home screen or launch another app its no longer active and listening.
Also, similar to the OP, my headset reacts strangely when I use its command button. When I push the button and say "phone command," it says "activating your phones inbuilt calling features," and then says "this feature is not supported on the connected phone." But, after that, Voice Talk is still listening but acts wonky. Instead, I set Voice Talk to Listen Over Bluetooth and I don't have to push anything - I just say Hi Galaxy. OP, I bet your headset's experiencing something similar. Try turning on Listen Over Bluetooth and Wake Up Command and then just say Hi Galaxy to start Voice Talk. I bet it works. Don't forget you can also set Motion to on and then just tap the phone twice (even if its locked) to activate Voice Talk. I'm guessing that uses less battery on both the phone and headset then leaving the Wake Up Command on.
Here's my take on each of the settings:
Listen Over Bluetooth
Has to be on for Voice Talk to work via a headset. If not, you can hear the prompts through the headset but Voice Talk is listening through the phone's built in mic.
Auto-Start Listening
I haven't figured this one out. Either off or on the phone seems to behave the same way. The best I can figure is that Voice Talk starts listening immediately the first time its opened instead of having to tap the button to make it start listening.
Wake Up Command
If Listen Over Bluetooth is active, the Wake Up Command has to be on for Voice Talk to hear Hi Galaxy.
Driving Mode
Is really mislabeled. All it does is announce new e-mail (but not read them) and read text messages.
So that's my take. I'd be interested in everyone else's experiences and if they've learned anything different or better.
BarryH_GEG said:
I've been playing with this for the past couple of days and here's what I've learned. It's complicated because there are multiple settings that effect each other. The phone has to be on to use Voice Talk. It can be locked, but has to be on and active. In other words, Voice Talk won't wake the phone up if it was shut off with the on/off button. Also, the app has to be in the foreground for it to listen. If you go to the home screen or launch another app its no longer active and listening.
Also, similar to the OP, my headset reacts strangely when I use its command button. When I push the button and say "phone command," it says "activating your phones inbuilt calling features," and then says "this feature is not supported on the connected phone." But, after that, Voice Talk is still listening but acts wonky. Instead, I set Voice Talk to Listen Over Bluetooth and I don't have to push anything - I just say Hi Galaxy. OP, I bet your headset's experiencing something similar. Try turning on Listen Over Bluetooth and Wake Up Command and then just say Hi Galaxy to start Voice Talk. I bet it works. Don't forget you can also set Motion to on and then just tap the phone twice (even if its locked) to activate Voice Talk. I'm guessing that uses less battery on both the phone and headset then leaving the Wake Up Command on.
Here's my take on each of the settings:
Listen Over Bluetooth
Has to be on for Voice Talk to work via a headset. If not, you can hear the prompts through the headset but Voice Talk is listening through the phone's built in mic.
Auto-Start Listening
I haven't figured this one out. Either off or on the phone seems to behave the same way. The best I can figure is that Voice Talk starts listening immediately the first time its opened instead of having to tap the button to make it start listening.
Wake Up Command
If Listen Over Bluetooth is active, the Wake Up Command has to be on for Voice Talk to hear Hi Galaxy.
Driving Mode
Is really mislabeled. All it does is announce new e-mail (but not read them) and read text messages.
So that's my take. I'd be interested in everyone else's experiences and if they've learned anything different or better.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for this detailed reply. I think at some point I have tried these settings but not sure if they were in the exact matching order. I will give it another go with everything set up to the way you have mentioned and see what I get. I am sure I am very close to actually getting it to work though..fingers crossed ..and yes if anyone else have different combinations of settings or ways they got it to actually work from a locked screen, please share it here. Thanks.
BarryH, I did try those exact settings like you had mentioned but still no luck. On triggering the voice talk with bluetooth headset's button, i can hear voice talk say "what would you like to do?" and does not respond to anything i say. (while screen is off).
I am thinking of installing Vlingo and trying to get that to work this way? Not sure if it would make a difference though.
vijith555 said:
BarryH, I did try those exact settings like you had mentioned but still no luck. On triggering the voice talk with bluetooth headset's button, i can hear voice talk say "what would you like to do?" and does not respond to anything i say. (while screen is off).
I am thinking of installing Vlingo and trying to get that to work this way? Not sure if it would make a difference though.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you do what I suggested you don't have to push the command button. The phone will be listening for the "hi galaxy" command all the time.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA Premium App
I noticed the same thing, when paired with my car, the phone does not respond to pressing the button on my parrot if the phone is locked
I disabled the factory lockscreen and now use widget locker instead, problem has gone away
connectsys said:
I noticed the same thing, when paired with my car, the phone does not respond to pressing the button on my parrot if the phone is locked
I disabled the factory lockscreen and now use widget locker instead, problem has gone away
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was thinking of trying this next as I have run out of options..so you say it worked? Then I will get widget locker and see how I go. So let me get this straight - i get widget locker and use the lock screen that comes with that or using widget locker i disable the stock lock? Or I should disable the stock lock from settings and then use widget locker? Cheers
yea disable stock lock in settings and then use widget locker only for lockscreen
connectsys said:
yea disable stock lock in settings and then use widget locker only for lockscreen
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Tried this last night and unfortunately its still doing the same thing. On holding the bluetooth headset's button while the phone's screen is off I can hear the phone go "what would you like to do" and right after this i say commands like "call (someone)" but nothing happens. When the phone's screen is on, it actually works when i do the same thing which just surprises me to as why. Also when the screen is off and voice talk not on the front screen the wake up command doesnt work. So again a person has to leave his screen on (without letting the phone go to standby) and leave the voice talk app running for voice dial to work.
And to make things worse the double tapping with motion turned on settings doesnt bring up voice talk when the screen is off..again putting me in the same situation. The only way voice talk work on this phone is when the screen is on so far which isnt really practical in situations you would want to use voice commands..i hope samsung or google brings a better solution to this issue because this phone's got so much boasting about being able to voice command but isnt able to perform what an iphone or old nokia do
If you've got Tasker, you might be able to set something up... I noticed the same problem last night, and yeah, it's totally counter-intuitive...
I'll let y'all know how I go...
BTW - also noticed that while it may listen through my car bluetooth, it certainly doesn't play through it, and it's next to impossible to hear the mousey voice in a moving vehicle muffled in the depths of my pocket anyway...
Stupid half-baked software!
k1sr said:
If you've got Tasker, you might be able to set something up... I noticed the same problem last night, and yeah, it's totally counter-intuitive...
I'll let y'all know how I go...
BTW - also noticed that while it may listen through my car bluetooth, it certainly doesn't play through it, and it's next to impossible to hear the mousey voice in a moving vehicle muffled in the depths of my pocket anyway...
Stupid half-baked software!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I cant agree more about it being counter-intuitive..and yes its not nice the voice prompts coming through the phone but i remember once somehow the voice prompts did come through the bluetooth headset i dont know how. Like you said something is not letting it operate properly, like blocking it. I havent used this Tasker but have used task manager like apps in the past. So you believe you could try to figure out a fix for this..i appreciate your efforts because I am just lost at the moment. Let me know how you go mate. And I will let you know if I get around this issue too. Thanks mate
k1sr said:
If you've got Tasker, you might be able to set something up... I noticed the same problem last night, and yeah, it's totally counter-intuitive...
I'll let y'all know how I go...
BTW - also noticed that while it may listen through my car bluetooth, it certainly doesn't play through it, and it's next to impossible to hear the mousey voice in a moving vehicle muffled in the depths of my pocket anyway...
Stupid half-baked software!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok i found a way to get this voice dialling to work when the screen is off but not using a bluetooth headset, instead the wired headset for the time being.
So I can trigger voice dial when the phone is in the pocket and voice prompt comes to the headset, i say command and it works . I dont mind it working for the wired headset as that is good enough for the time being while driving. If you need to know how i got this done just give me a buzz. There are two pieces of software that I got to set this up. Cheers.
I just deleted built in vlingo crap and took generic Google voice dialer apk from my nexus s. Plus side you don't have to be connected to net to dial contacts and I can hear reply in headset as well.
Sent from my GT-I9100

S-Voice not remembering speakback aloud

When using s voice I always have to press the button on the bottom left to turn on the feature that speaks aloud back what s voice says. When I am using s voice in the car hands free I can never figure out what s voice wants me to do because it never talks back to me. I always have to turn back on the talk back feature. It never remembers it. I know that I can use driving mode but I don't want to. I just want to use normal s voice but it seems that with that setting turning off every time s voice turns on I have to press that button. Is this problem happening to other people. How can I fix this. Thank you.
bump
This is still not working and I don't know what to do. When I use Bluetooth in my car and activate s voice, it never automatically speaks back to me. If I manually enable it to speak back to me and I say something like, "call jack", it will say "do you want to call jack", and then it will not automatically listen to me for a response, I would have to hold down my Bluetooth car button again and say "yes" to make a call. This is very frustrating and any help with this issue would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

The problem with voice control

I've never been much of a voice control person. Speaking outloud to my phone seems so impractical in public places.
However with a new car and new phone I'm starting to get used to it and the problem I'm finding is the things I can't do. I really want to be able to pause podcasts and music and stuff like that with voice. Connecting to bluetooth is another example.
One major annoyance is how setting reminders still needs you to click the screen.
It's a weird thing, I either don't want it or I want MORE !!!!
Part of me is just making a point and part wondering if people know magical voice tricks
I am hoping it is really trained to your personal voice. It will be funny when both the wife and I say "OK GOOGLE" at night and both phones takes commands.
thebitjockey said:
I am hoping it is really trained to your personal voice. It will be funny when both the wife and I say "OK GOOGLE" at night and both phones takes commands.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It tries to only respond to your voice. It usually works, but not all the time. (If another person with a similar voice tries it)

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